tar

UK: /ˈtɑː^r/ US: /tɑr/ ,(tär)

Inflections of 'tar' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

tars

v 3rd person singular

tarring

v pres p

tarred

v past

tarred

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

tar¹ /tɑr/   n., v., tarred, tar•ring, adj. 
n. [uncountable]

1. Chemistry a black, thick substance that can be shaped when hot and is hard when cold, used for making roads, etc.:
   hot tar smeared on the highways.
2. Chemistry solid material produced when tobacco burns:
   cigarette tar.

v. [~ + object]

3. to smear or cover with or as if with tar.

adj. 

4. of or relating to tar.
5. covered or smeared with tar;
   tarred.

Idioms

6. Idioms tar and feather, [~ + object] to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tar¹ (tär),  n., v., tarred, tar•ring, adj. 

n. 

1. Chemistry any of various dark-colored viscid products obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic substances, as coal or wood.
2. Chemistry coal-tar pitch.
3. Chemistry smoke solids or components:
   cigarette tar.
4. beat, knock, or whale the tar out of, [Informal.] to beat mercilessly:
   The thief had knocked the tar out of the old man and left him for dead.

v.t. 

5. to smear or cover with or as if with tar.
6. tar and feather:
   • to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.
   • to punish severely:
     She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.

adj. 

7. of or characteristic of tar.
8. covered or smeared with tar;
   tarred.
9. tarred with the same brush, possessing the same shortcomings or guilty of the same misdeeds:
   The whole family is tarred with the same brush.

• bef. 900; (noun, nominal) Middle English tarr(e), ter(re), Old English teru; cognate with Dutch, German teer, Old Norse tjara; akin to tree; (verb, verbal) Middle English terren, Old English tierwian, derivative of the noun, nominal

tar²  (tär), n. [Informal.]

1. Informal Terms a sailor.

• perh. short for tarpaulin 1740–50

Synonyms

seafarer, gob. See sailor. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tar / tɑː/ noun

1. any of various dark viscid substances obtained by the destructive distillation of organic matter such as coal, wood, or peat
2. another name for coal tar

verb (tars, tarring, tarred)(transitive)

1. to coat with tar
2. tar and feather ⇒ to punish by smearing tar and feathers over (someone)
3. tarred with the same brush ⇒ regarded as having the same faults

Etymology: Old English teoru; related to Old Frisian tera, Old Norse tjara, Middle Low German tere tar, Gothic triu tree

ˈtarry adjective

ˈtarriness noun

tar / tɑː/ noun

1. an informal word for seaman

Etymology: 17th Century: short for tarpaulin